Share via

Add to

As in previous years, children from schools No 33, 34 and 370 performed on the stage of the Hermitage Theatre in pieces devised for them by creative teams of teachers. Two schools put on very different and original performances inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, using music from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker. Children with hearing impairments wore 19th-century-style costumes to perform dances accompanied by sign-singing against a backdrop of virtual images of the Hermitage’s halls. There were also traditional Christmastide activities with games and fortune-telling in snow-covered rural settings. These very accomplished polished performances were produced and directed by the children’s teachers and parents.

Irina Diubanova, the head of the Hermitage’s School Centre (Research and Instructional Methodology Department) wished the children a Happy New Year and Christmas. Representatives of the schools warmly thanked the Hermitage administration, the staff of the School Centre and the tour guides for their tremendous work helping with the education of children with special needs.

After the main programme of the event was over, the children received gifts and their teachers were presented with paper, paints and brushes for art activities with the children. As a mark of their gratitude, the children presented pictures they had made themselves to the Hermitage School Centre and the representative of the company Baker & McKenzie, which provides funding for the annual party for children with special needs.